Page 21 - Eye of the beholder

in southern India, not much is known about the early oil painters in Eastern India, in the region around present day Kolkata. It is in this context that the discovery of a painting by Eduard Sunkel assumes importance, as it sheds light on the emergence of oil painting in northern India.
to India in 1769 and was the first of
this genre of artists, to the last body of works produced in the 1940s (when India ceased being a colony), this genera of paintings consists of innumerable paintings and sketches that captured the history and social evolution of India over 200 years, and is therefore of great art- historical significance. Though this field has been the subject of a lot of scholastic research work, ironically this is also
one of the most neglected areas in the present Indian art market.
The first steps towards the colonization of India had started with the establishment of the trading posts by the British, French and the Danish.
In the ensuing battle for commercial, financial and political supremacy, played out in the backdrop of the political development in Europe and the falling fortunes of the Mughal dynasty, by the third quarter of the 18th century, the British (represented by the East India Company) were a quasi political force
to reckon with. With increasing political stability and a concomitant decrease in existential worries of empire building, there was an increase in emphasis
on cultural pursuits, which was also fanned by a section of noveau-rich Indians who owed their emergence
The colonial artists painted
the exoticism of India, and in this
process documented everyday life as well as important historical events.
Their paintings also depicted Indian topography and landmarks like historical ruins or royal palaces. However, the colonial artists are important not only for documenting a very important part of India’s history, but also because
they influenced local Indian artists and initiated the beginning of modern Indian art as we know it today. European art had made its first impact on traditional Indian painting during the age of the Mughals in the 16th century. Throughout the Mughal period however, the appeal of European art remained primarily exotic in nature. With the decline of traditional sources of patronage and its replacement by the East India Company, the European influence on Indian art became more ingrained and institutionalized. However, all of this early Indian art influenced by European art was invariably executed
on paper, keeping in sync with earlier traditions.
ITIneranT colonIal arTIsTs and colonIal IndIan arT
e. and sustenance to the British regime. With the consolidation of the British
in his career. He was a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts (Preußische Akademie der Künste), and exhibited regularly in its annual exhibitions. The Prussian Academy of Arts (Preußische Akademie der Künste) was an art
school set up in Berlin in 1694/1696 by Frederick I of Prussia, the crown prince of Brandenburg and later King of Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its existence. The academy dropped 'Prussian' from its
rule, word of the economic and political importance of the Indian colony soon spread. Added to that was the exoticism that India offered – an exoticism that was
The collective oeuvre produced by the itinerant colonial artists is spread over a period of slightly less than 200 years. Starting from Tilly Kettle, who came
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India took place in the late 18th century, and was by far the most important contribution of western art to colonial Indian art. Oil painting was introduced in India for the first time by the itinerant colonial artists, the first well known among whom was Tilly Kettle (1735 – 1786). These artists initially started out by working on commissions from local rulers and the nobility. As oil paintings became popular with Indians, a steady stream of western artists found their way into India to earn a living. Many of them eventually took on local artists as students or apprentices, initiating them into the medium of oil painting. This led to the emergence of the first generation of indigenously trained Indian oil painters. This aspect of the importance of the itinerant colonial artists to Indian art has unfortunately not received enough scholarly attention. With the exception of a notable few like Theodore Jensen who mentored Raja Ravi Varma, little is known about the contribution of other colonial artists to the emergence of oil painting in India. Among the earliest Indian oil painters, the names of Raja Ravi Varma and his contemporary Ramaswamy Naidu stand out. While both these two artists were practicing
often embellished and overrated. As a result, in part to live and paint the Indian exoticism, and more generally to seek fortunes and to eke out a career, artists from Britain gradually began to trickle into India starting from the latter half of the 18th century.
franZ edUard sUnKel and The emergence of oIl paInTIng In IndIa
The orIgIn of oIl paInTIng In
Extant literature points to the existence of an early oil painter called Gangadhar Dey. He worked and belonged to the period before the government art schools had asserted their influence,
and had also received training from other European itinerant artists before he started on his own as an artist and restorer. Gangadhar Dey seems to
have been an important person in the contemporary society associated with the socio-cultural movements of the day, and was among the innermost circle of the devotees of the nineteenth century Hindu religious figure by the name of
Sri Ramkrishna. Apart from being a photographer, by most accounts, he was probably among the first oil painters
in the region around Calcutta. Though none of his own works are presently available publicly, he mentored the next generation of Indian oil painters, the most prominent among whom was J P Gangooly. The pre-art school painters have not yet received the scholarly attention that is usually lavished on company painters. Research done by Prof. Partha Mitter for the first time indicated that Gangadhar Dey was the student of a German itinerant artist called Franz Eduard Sunkel. This would have implied that Sunkel was one of the first western artists to be responsible
for the origin and propagation of oil painting in India, and particularly in eastern India. Sadly however, no further details about Sunkel were known, nor was any example of his work available to scholars. The discovery of this painting by Eduard Sunkel therefore sheds new light on the emergence of oil painting
in India in general and eastern India
in particular and highlights the art- historical importance of Eduard Sunkel as an itinerant colonial Indian painter.
Over the next 80 – 100 years, this trickle gradually transformed itself
into a steady stream- and the artists coming to India were no longer from Britain only, but also from countries
in mainland Europe going as far as Scandinavia. Indeed, towards the end
of the 19th century, artists from as far
as the United States of America and Australia also came to India. Irrespective of whether they were driven by a passion for adventure, a zest for life, a penchant for money or the compulsion of a government job, all these artists could be grouped under the collective epithet of ‘Itinerant Colonial Artists’.
Though his exact date of birth is not known, Franz Eduard Sunkel seems to have been fairly active in the Berlin art scene from 1844 onwards till his death, with at least one unexplained break
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